The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day by Scott O’Dell
Through the experience of a fictional young sailor-smuggler named Tom Barton, O’Dell depicts the spiritual darkness of England in the early 1500s before the Reformation, and his encounter with an unassuming man bent on translating the Bible into the English language. The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day endears the reader to the humble,…
Remember the Alamo! by Robert Penn Warren
Remember the Alamo! by Robert Penn Warren was the first history book we read about Texas after arriving here. We all enjoyed it, but none so much as our 12 year old son, whose favorite topic is military history, whose favorite games are strategy games, and whose love for the Lone Star State is blinding.…
Boy of the Pyramids by Ruth Fosdick Jones
Ancient Egypt and the early Old Testament is the overarching theme of our school year. I missed laying this foundation in the early years before learning of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education, so we’re back tracking a bit to build upon it going forward, Lord willing, as we travel through HIS(story) of HIS world. Boy…
Bud & Me by Alta Abernathy
Since we moved to Texas, we’ve been trying to learn as much as we can about its history and culture. So, like typical homeschoolers, we switched gears in the middle of the school year and jumped from Ancient Egypt to the history of the South because that’s where the science of relations was happening in…
Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates is an excellent living book on the horror of the slave trade, the sanctity of human life, and the privilege of freedom. Beginning in Africa, the story gives us a glimpse into what life was like for the fifteen year old prince in the At-mun-shi tribe. Torn from…
Children of the Storm: The Autobiography of Natasha Vins
Children of The Storm by Natasha Vins is a true story that takes place in the Soviet Union during the 1960s and 70s. We could not make it through a single chapter without drawing multiple parallels between the Communist government in Eastern Europe just one generation ago and what is happening here in North America…
Making Bombs For Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Last year, I recommended Trapped In Hitler’s Web by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, an author from our previous hometown. We enjoyed it so much, I nearly squealed out loud when I found another one of her books, Making Bombs for Hitler, at a thrift store shortly before we moved. We just finished reading it, two chapters at a time,…
Words On Fire by Jennifer Nielsen
The suppression of truth to advance one’s own agenda is nothing new. (Aren’t we all guilty of leaving out certain details to make ourselves look better?!) Ananias and Sapphira were punished with immediate death for their collaboration in a “white lie” that was made to elevate their appearance to the rest of the church. God…
